As CEO and president of the World Brewing Alliance, Justin Kissinger heads up an organisation that represents 70% of the world’s beer production. And as consumer drinking habits change and evolve, he’s imploring breweries take grasp the opportunity presented by growing demand for no alcohol, low alcohol, and fruit-flavoured beers.
“I think in a unique way, beer has been preparing for changes in demographics and drinking patterns for about a decade now. The trend that we are seeing, certainly in markets that are longstanding large beer markets like Europe and North America, are demographic shifts where populations are skewing a little bit older. This is naturally associated with people drinking less over time.”
Justin Kissinger is in bullish mood. Drinking habits are changing but for the CEO and president of the World Brewing Alliance, this is not a challenge but instead an opportunity for breweries across the globe.
The World Brewing Alliance (WBA) brings together brewers such as ABInBev, Molson Coors, Heineken and Carlsberg and brewing trade associations from around the world, with Kissinger seeing first-hand how beer businesses are evolving to cater for consumers across the new drinking landscape. And for many, that means producing drinks with low or no alcohol.
“Starting in the late 2010s we saw real opportunities in lower and no alcohol products and new technologies that unlock the ability to make those beers at scale, but also to make them in new and delicious ways, so that you weren’t boiling off all of the flavour at the cost of making a beer with no alcohol,” he explains.
Increased market access
Kissinger explains that an increasing number of breweries now have access to technologies that allow them to produce beers that are particularly close to beers with higher levels of alcohol.
“This started off as an industrial technology that was really limited to some of the brands that could make large investments. But the way this caught on, I think, has galvanised the industry. There are also ingredients such as new yeasts coming online,” he says.
“These maltose negative yeasts allow you to ferment without producing ethanol in the brew, but you’re doing a full fermentation of the product. You’re making an entire beer. But you’re just doing it in a way that doesn’t end up with alcohol.”
“I think in a unique way, beer has been preparing for changes in demographics and drinking patterns for about a decade now.”
Justin Kissinger
Kissinger has been the CEO and president of the WBA for the last five years. Membership at the alliance includes national and regional trade associations as well as the largest brewers in the world, representing 70% of the world’s beer production, from large multinational conglomerates to small craft brewers.
Before taking on the role at the WBA, Kissinger has extensive experience as a senior leader at the intersection of business, government and international affairs, including work at Heineken and the U.S. House of Representatives. He also holds a J.D. from the University of San Diego School of Law and a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from the University of Scranton.
“I’ve always enjoyed hospitality and enjoyed bringing people together. My career really started in politics and what you learn really quickly when you get involved in political campaigns or any sort of social cause is that politics is about people, and it’s about creating a shared momentum behind a point of view or a thing that you want to accomplish in your community,” says Kissinger.
And during his time as global director of public policy at Heineken, he says the experience broadened both his world view but also beer’s place in that global fabric.
“I had this fantastic opportunity to experience beer culture, not just in my own backyard, but in a lot of different yards around the world,” he tells us.
“And once you do that, you realise that beer isn’t just a social connector between individual people, but it’s a cultural connector. It’s a thing that everyone can participate in, regardless of their cultural background, because every country has its own beer culture.”
Changing consumer habits
Changes in drinking habits impact breweries of all shapes and sizes. And at the WBA, Kissinger helps represent a broad cross-section of the global industry. This means acting on behalf of a whole category in beer.
“Brands come and go, companies come and go, but beer has been around for 1000s of years, and our job in the in the community is to be steward that category for our time in it, and to make sure that it’s something that can be enjoyed by the maximum number of people at the best prices and in the best social circumstances,” he says.
“Our member breweries will have different dynamics between big and small. But you know, most people who start small breweries would like to be big breweries someday. And the the journey to get from here to there is different for everybody.”
In months many global brewers have published their 2026 first half results. A common-thread throughout is the growth in no-and-low alcohol products. Carlsberg (1) reported revenues of £5.35bn (Dkr47bn) which represents a 2.6% increase on the same period last year. Alcohol-free beer volumes were up 11%, which were driven by 15% growth in Western Europe and mid-single-digit growth in Central & Eastern Europe and India.
And according to the British Beer and Pub Association (2), more than 64 million pints of no-and-low beer is expected to have been sold this summer, an increase of over eight million from 2025.
For Kissinger, he says it’s important for brewers that aren’t currently operating in this field to explore the growing opportunities it provides to help grow sales.
“From the data I see a change where we are not focusing on the volumes of beer that contains ethanol but the volumes of beer produced in its entirety,” he says. “There are huge opportunities there for producers to bring beer culture to people that might be turning away from alcohol but still want the community and social aspects beer brings.”
Fruit beers in full flight
With demand for fruit-flavoured beers also on the rise, Kissinger says brewers should explore experimentation that bring new flavour profiles to the beer category and are liquids that have “a natural role” in its future.
“These styles may have had some false starts in the past decade or so, but I think that you’ll start to see those that find new avenues with longer staying power in in due course,” he says. “These might not be trends that we’re seeing in the data right now, but I think are big opportunities for us over the long term as a category.”
And while no-and-low, as well as fruit-forward, beers continue to take much of the global spotlight in beer, Kissinger is also eager to recognise the growing brewing sectors across Asia and Africa. These markets are showcasing a range of local ingredients and also introducing a new wave of drinkers to beer.
“These might not be trends that we’re seeing in the data right now, but I think are big opportunities for us over the long term as a category.”
Justin Kissinger
“In these countries the younger demographics are becoming the largest portion of the population, and they’re just starting to experience beer culture. Across South America there are a raft of new craft breweries emerging and growing the beer sector as a result,” he says.
“While in Africa more and more breweries are utilising locally sourced ingredients such as folio and sorghum in their beers to great effect. These both anchor the product with a sense of place but also show breweries elsewhere in the world how to broaden their horizons when it comes to what we brew and how we brew.”
Going forward, Kissinger says that every brewery, regardless where they brew or what they brew has its part to play in growing the category.
“I’m excited for people to bring great products to market and I’m excited for people to create different experiences that resonate with consumers. That will never change,” he adds.
References
1 https://www.carlsberggroup.com/newsroom/h1-2026-financial-statement/
2 https://www.brewersjournal.info/most-successful-summer-on-record-for-no-and-low-alcohol-beer/
